


Anymore

by jbird181



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Country Singer!Stone, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-26 14:49:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7578301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jbird181/pseuds/jbird181
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ezekiel finds out about Stone’s “country phase” and teases him mercilessly about it. However, all the while Ezekiel actually really likes Stone’s voice--not that he would ever admit it--and illegally downloads the audio of Stone’s performances from grainy YouTube videos and listens to them constantly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anymore

**Author's Note:**

> I made a playlist of the songs I mentioned in this fic which you can check out here if you're interested https://open.spotify.com/user/jaybird181/playlist/3wQDdosgyzBHZshsh0uyWo. The song I got the title and lyrics from is Anymore by Travis Tritt. I'll admit, I did not like country music at all prior to writing this fic and looking up "country love songs" at 2:00 in the morning, but I found some good songs.

No way. _No way_. Ezekiel clutches the edge of the counter to keep himself upright as he doubles over with laughter. Cassandra peers at him as she walks by with an armful of books.

“What's so funny?”

Ezekiel is laughing so hard now that no sounds are coming out. He points to his phone with his free hand and, more importantly, the image of a young Stone complete with a guitar, a cowboy hat, and hair that Rapunzel would envy.

Cassandra covers her mouth with her hand in an attempt to control herself, but Ezekiel can see the laughter in her eyes. Slowly, the convulsions stop and he straightens and grins at her.

Cassandra shakes her head, a giggle escaping. Stone chooses this exact moment to enter as well, shooting the two of them distrustful looks. He learned early on that Ezekiel Jones’ amusement is typically extremely unpleasant for the people around him. Stone pats his pockets, feeling for his wallet and phone. Ezekiel can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he runs through the many possibilities. Would it be salt in the sugar bowl? Purple dye in his shampoo? Had Ezekiel paired all of his right socks together again? Too often was Stone the butt of Ezekiel’s jokes, and today was no different.

“What are you two laughing about?” Stone grumbled.

Cassandra took pity on him. “I didn't know you used to be a singer!”

Never before had Ezekiel seen such profound mortification cross someone’s face in the span of five seconds. “Oh _no_.”

“Oh _yes_ , mate,” Ezekiel chimed in. His cheeks hurt from smiling so broadly. “You had quite the Billy Ray Cyrus vibe going back in the day.”

Stone scrubbed a hand through his hair and breathed out heavily. “How?”

“Easy-peasy. I'm Ezekiel Jones, cowboy, m-”

“Master thief, right, like you ever let us forget.” He turns to Cassandra, unable to stand staring at Ezekiel’s smug little smirk any longer without trying to punch it off of his idiotic, mocking face. “It's no big deal, I used to cover the classics. A few of the bars in town had open mike nights.”

At least Cassandra was courteous enough to keep her smile friendly. “That's actually really cool, Jake! I always wanted to learn to play guitar. My parents told me it was a waste of time.”

“I could teach you, if you want,” Stone shrugged sheepishly.

“I’d like that,” said Cassandra happily.

Ezekiel was holding the speaker of his phone close to his ear and he had a mad gleam in his eye. “Really, Stone? Country? That's the lowest of all forms of music!”

Stone scowled. “Country music tells stories, Jones. Not that I’d expect _you_ to understand it.”

“Can I get a rain check on this banter?” Ezekiel tucked his phone into his pocket and rubbed his hands together as he walked away. “Gotta go collect blackmail material.”

Stone simply groaned, running his hand again through his hair. “I’ll catch you later Cassandra, I'm going to go write Ezekiel out of my will.”

…..

Ezekiel would never, could never, admit it aloud, not after how mercilessly he has been teasing Stone, but he is a little bit in love with Stone’s voice. Ezekiel has always been more of a Madonna fan himself (don’t judge, 80’s pop isn't all bad), but when he listens to Stone singing softly in that gravelly way of his, Ezekiel can almost understand the appeal of country music. _Almost_.

He's pretty sure the recordings don't do Stone justice. He pirated them from YouTube, and the video is grainy and badly-lit, the audio he downloaded staticky and interspersed by irritating clapping and cheering from Stone’s fans. Even so, Ezekiel can't stop listening to them. He has decided that his favorite cover is the one Stone did of Lonestar’s “Amazed”. Sometimes he catches himself humming it--while he’s eating lunch, while he’s showering, while he’s brushing his teeth, on rare occasions while he's reading, while he’s lying in bed at night unable to fall asleep.

_Every little thing that you do, baby, I’m amazed by you._

God, that high note… It makes Ezekiel’s chest feel strangely tight and elated all at once.

Sometimes Stone is joined by a few others on drums or bass or piano whose faces are difficult for Ezekiel to make out on the shaky videos. This is the case for Stone’s cover of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy”, which, for the record, is fantastic. Stone’s naturally rough voice lends itself well to ballads, but Ezekiel honestly prefers when it's just Stone and his guitar. It feels more honest somehow. Stone’s covers of “If I Die Young” and “Simple Man” (oh man that one is especially good) are equally amazing, and if Ezekiel didn't watch himself, he might be fangirling. Over Stone. Which would be ridiculous. Just because the man has the voice of an angel doesn't mean that Ezekiel is going to obsess over every single detail about him. He doesn't care about Stone’s love of art or his daddy issues or the fact that he pulls his punches when he uses his left hand.

Well shit, if Ezekiel can't even lie to himself then the situation is worse than he thought. He is completely and utterly screwed.

…..

Ezekiel hates feeling useless. He taught himself how to steal so he'd never be helpless again, but the other Librarians (and Guardian, fervently, as he recalled) had insisted that Ezekiel would only be a liability if he came on the case with them with that twisted ankle, and that it would be better for Ezekiel to stay back at the annex with Jenkins where he could do research for them and allow the healing potion to kick in.

He hated this: the uncertainty, the helplessness. He had no idea how Jenkins did it all the time. Except for this time, Jenkins hadn't stayed home. Everyone was off having fun but Ezekiel, well, if mysterious disappearances were your idea of fun. He felt he was entitled to a bit of a pity party, and, well, who was going to stop him? He grabbed a pint of ice cream from the fridge (shut up, it was almost empty already), connected his phone to his wireless speaker, queued up his Stone playlist, settled on a couch, and closed his eyes, enjoying a large spoonful of mint chocolate chip.

He was halfway through “Amazed” when Stone himself barged in. Or perhaps it was a lost puppy. That would explain the look of utter confusion and the head tilt. All he was missing was the floppy ears. Ezekiel could feel his cheeks warming, but he forced himself to stay calm. He could talk his way out of this, he was Ezekiel Jones, after all.

“I thought you didn't like country,” Stone shot, straight to the point. He looked nearly as flustered as Ezekiel, and he had to have realized that it wasn't just any old country singer that Ezekiel was listening to.

“I didn't.”

“So?” Stone gestured wildly, prompting Ezekiel to go on, but Ezekiel refused to bite.

“So what?”

“So what? You're listening to my old covers, so what! The ones you won't stop teasing me about!”

“To be fair, long hair looks hilarious on you.”

Stone glared at him, fists clenched. “Ezekiel.”

“Fine, I only looked you up to find more stuff to tease you about, but…” Ezekiel couldn't meet Stone’s eyes. His heart was beating furiously and he hated feeling so out of control. “But I really like your voice, alright? Are you happy now?” Ezekiel crossed his arms and glared defensively into Stone’s eyes, and as a result he got to see the anger fade out of them firsthand, to be replaced with some strange emotion Ezekiel couldn't recall ever seeing on Stone before. Was that shyness?

“Those recordings don't really do me justice.” He cleared his throat, and it was now Stone’s turn to stare at a spot on the wall just above Ezekiel's shoulder. “Want me to… Want me to play for you?”

Ezekiel tried to hide his smile to no avail. “Sure, why not? Singer’s choice.”

“You're too kind, Jones.”

“Careful there, cowboy, don't need to go around inflating my ego.” They shared a laugh, and just like that, the tension eased to a manageable level.

“I’ll be right back,” said Stone. “Gotta go grab my guitar.” Ezekiel nodded.

When Stone returned, he sat down next to Ezekiel on the couch and began tuning his guitar with careful concentration. Then, after closing his eyes for a second and gathering himself, Stone strummed the introduction, his fingers gaining surety as they remembered the old patterns.

Then Stone began to sing.

_“I can't hide the way I feel about you, anymore. I can't hold the hurt inside or keep the pain out of my eyes, anymore.”_

Despite himself, Ezekiel could feel his heart rate increasing. Stone’s song choice couldn't be a coincidence, could it? Maybe it was payback for all of Ezekiel's mocking of him, but no, Stone wouldn't do that. Ezekiel was sure of it. That was one of the things he liked best about Stone--he was inherently good-hearted.

_“Let me make one last appeal, to show you how I feel, about you. Cause there's no one else I swear, holds a candle anywhere, next to you.”_

Oh man, he was beautiful, especially so like this singly softly but passionately with his confident fingers knowing precisely where to place themselves and his cowboy-booted toe tapping along to the beat and his tongue sticking out between his lips in between verses. It was enough to make a bloke light-headed.

_“A small voice keeps repeating, deep inside my soul.”_

Ezekiel could kiss him. He was right there, all Ezekiel would have to do is lean in a few inches when Stone looked up from the frets and their lips would touch. 

_“It says I can't keep pretending I don't love you anymore.”_

Bloody hell.

_“I’ve got to take the chance or let it pass by!”_

Ezekiel couldn't help but smile fondly at Stone. The bastard was _psyching himself up to ask Ezekiel out._ It was actually kind of adorable. Fancy that.

Stone’s voice gained intensity on the bridge and he even closed his eyes and tilted his head up towards the heavens. Then he let his hands drop and spoke the last line with his eyes still closed.

“And I'm tired of pretending I don't love you anymore.”

And really, it was just too tempting. Ezekiel leaned in and closed the gap between them.

When they broke away, Ezekiel stared into Stone’s eyes, searching for any sign that he made the right call. I mean, Stone kissed him back and sang an entire love song to him, but Ezekiel had to be _sure_.

Stone understood. He cleared his throat. “I love you, Ezekiel. In case I didn't make that clear. You don't have to say it back or anything, I just wanted you to know, I guess, and--” Ezekiel cut him off with another kiss that was somehow even better than their first.

“Don’t be an idiot, cowboy, of course I love you too.” For a moment, they just grinned at each other in relief and contentment.

“Maybe I'll grow my hair back out,” mused Stone.

Ezekiel grimaced, but his eyes were laughing. “Please don't.”


End file.
